Galactic Garbage Station

Chapter 108 Ambergris

Su Jing turned it over and looked at the white thing. It looked like a “stone” with an ugly appearance and it was a mixture of white and gray. The surface was densely covered with “bee eyes”. It was as big as four bricks, but very light, about two or three jin, like a pumice stone. The surface is wet, and there is a strange smell emitting from it.

Su Jing stared at it for a long time. The more he looked, the brighter his eyes became. He looked incredulous. How could this white thing look like Ambergris? Ambergris, as its name implies, should be fragrant, but it is after drying, wet and smelly.

Ambergris is no doubt a treasure, not only can it serve as a valuable Chinese medicine, but it also can be used as a fixative and it is a precious material sought after by perfume manufacturers, its price is more expensive than gold. It is also known as “floating gold” because of its high price and because it can be found floating on the sea.

In ancient times, Ambergris was thought to be the saliva of a dragon in the sea, which dripped into the sea and solidified over time. With the progress of the times, the mystery of nature has been uncovered. People think that Ambergris’s saliva is not scientific, so they have all kinds of conjectures: some say that it was formed by volcanic eruption on the seafloor; some say that bird dung on the island drifted into the water after a long period of weathering; some say that Ambergris was formed after a long period of weathering. It’s beeswax, which is produced by a long float in the sea; and it’s a special fungus.

However, it was later discovered that Ambergris was the excrement of sperm whales. Sperm whales were the largest species of toothed whales. The largest size of sperm whales was 23 meters in males and 17 meters in females. They feed on squid and octopus, but they have tough cuticle jaws and tongue teeth in their mouths, which are not easy to digest. When sperm whales devour large, soft whales. After the body of the devoured animal is digested, the jaw and tongue accumulate in the gastrointestinal tract, stimulating the intestinal tract, the intestinal tract secretes a special wax, which wraps up the residual nucleus of food, and slowly forms Ambergris.

Ambergris discharged into the sea is at first light black, which is worthless. Under the action of seawater, after more than ten years, Ambergris gradually turns brown, grey, light grey, and finally white. White Ambergris has the best quality. It has to be soaked in seawater for more than 100 years to float out all the impurities before it can become the top grade in Ambergris.

“Little Hu, you didn’t really bring me a piece of the best white Ambergris.” Su Jing couldn’t believe it. His hands were so cautious as he was afraid of being doing damage to the white ambergris in his hands.

“I found this near a big head monster.” Killer whale said.

“Big monster… is it a sperm whale?” Su Jing said. The head of the sperm whale is one-fourth to one-third of its body. It is indeed a big-headed monster. The sperm whale is huge and fierce. It is also a Seamaster. However, compared to the killer whale, it is a little weaker. It is said that there is something that can invade the sperm whale activity area and they are killer whales.

“Let’s ask Shen Hong, although this old fox is sometimes very crafty but his expertise is too strong. He should know Ambergris better.” Su Jing called Shen Hong immediately, but there was no answer.

Su Jing thought that Shen Hong might be busy so he took a few photos of the white block, and took a few photos of “Bamboo and Stone Painting”. He edited a piece of text and sent it to Shen Hong. He will let him see it first before sending it to the Myriad Treasures Auction House.

Unexpectedly, not long after the photo was sent out, Shen Hong called back, and his voice was full of excitement: “You said that the photo was taken by you, your own Bamboo and Stone Painting and Ambergris?”

“Yeah," Su Jing said.

“Are you at home? I’ll come over to you later.” Shen Hong said excitedly, at the same time, he was envious and jealous. How come all the good things came to Su Jing? That’s unfair. What he would never expect was that the Bamboo and Stone Painting was bought from him yesterday for only 1,000 yuan.

“I’ll go to Myriad Treasures Auction House in a day or two at most. You don’t have to come over. First, you have to tell me if this painting is genuine and whether this white thing is Ambergris or not, and if so, how much is it worth?” Su Jing asked.

“How can I tell that just by looking at the picture? But it seems that the Bamboo and Stone Painting is probably the true painting of Zheng Banqiao’s which should be worth more than a million yuans. That white object is also likely to be Ambergris, the best Ambergris of such color, estimated price more than 1,000 yuan a gram, your piece dried about two jin, that is, at least one million yuan. Of course, if you meet a favorite collector, then it’s not based on gram." Shen Hong answered.

Su Jing eyes brighten when he heard this. The Bamboo and Stone Painting really worth a million, Ambergris is also very expensive. Moreover, according to Shen Hong’s character, the price he said is absolutely conservative, that is to say, it may be worth much more than one million, provided that the Bamboo and Stone Painting is authentic and this white substance is Ambergris, because if they are not authentic then tw=hey will be worth nothing.

“I can’t make a precise judgment without seeing the object and testing. When will you come over? Do you have something to do now, or I can come over to your house and help you confirm them." Shen Hong seemed impatient and apparently, he wanted to see the treasure in real form.

“This… All right.” For Su Jing, going to Myriad Treasures Auction House is not much different from getting his thing authenticated at home. Home identification may be more reassuring, at least this is his territory.

“When I’m done with my thing, I’ll come. Don’t destroy Ambergris yourself.” Shen Hong finished talking and hung up the phone.

“What is so exciting?" asked an old man next to Shen Hong.

“Look at it.” Shen Hong handed over the picture on the phone.

“Bamboo and Stone Painting! Ambergris!” The old man’s eyes suddenly lit up. In fact, the Bamboo and Stone Painting were all right. He had seen several authentic works. He was not so surprised. The key was Ambergris, which looked quite pure. He said, “Let’s quickly go there and identify these things. Some people pretend to understand them and do random tests which will result in their destruction.”

“Well, hurry up.” Shen Hong nodded.

When Su Jing hung up, instead of waiting for Shen Hong at home, he asked killer whale, “Little Hu, you said you found this thing near a Bighead monster site. Can you see the Bighead monster now when you go to sea?”

“I can see they’re still there.” Cried killer whale.

“Let’s go and take me to you.” Su Jing put the white piece into his home storage room, changed into a swimsuit, put on his diving goggles, and took a camera that he bought a few days ago to take underwater photographs, and rode out to sea on the killer whale.

First, He wants to see the legendary sperm whale with his own eyes. Second, it’s because of the Ambergris that the killer whale brought back, it’s worth visiting nearby to see if there are any more. It’s not too late to search for them as they would not have drifted very far.

After several dozen meters at sea, Su Jing suddenly realized the safety problem. What if he was attacked by the sperm whales? Little Hu, after all, is too young to be an opponent of the sperm whale. But on second thought, sperm whales seldom hunt on the sea. They like to eat squid, octopus and other mollusks. Moreover, sperm whales can’t swim as fast as a killer whale, so he won’t get too close and he would turn around and run away whenever there is a problem.

Su Jing was bold enough to be taken by a killer whale for a quick swim out to sea.